Certification Service Terms and Conditions

• To establish the conditions under which FVR provides professional competency certification services, ensuring transparency, impartiality, and compliance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17024 and ISO 9001.

• This policy applies to all applicants, candidates, and certified persons participating in the certification processes managed by FVR. It includes: certification application, competency assessment, certification decision, certificate issuance, and maintenance of certification status.

• Before payment, FVR provides each candidate in writing with a description of the service, the applicable requirements, and the conditions affecting certification. Any subsequent change is notified in advance and is not applied retroactively to a process already under way.
• Because candidates cannot directly assess the technical quality of the certification service, FVR publishes its conditions in advance and applies them uniformly to all candidates rather than negotiating them individually.
• FVR keeps the certification decision separate from the training and preparation it may have provided to the same person. Whoever taught does not decide, and no commercial consideration — a subscription, a package, a renewal — takes part in the decision.
• Access to certification is not subject to undue restrictions unrelated to the competence requirements of the scheme. A candidate who does not pass has the assessment conditions, the number of attempts and the cost of an additional attempt stated in advance, and has the right to appeal.
• What FVR certifies is the competence of a person against a scheme — never an organization, a product or a management system.

• FVR provides certification services based on the following principles: impartiality, transparency, confidentiality, technical competence, and independence of the assessment process.
• FVR ensures that the certification decision is made through decision criteria approved in advance by authorized personnel and applied identically to every candidate, so that no one who participated in the candidate's training, preparation or examination decides that candidate's certification.

• FVR undertakes to:
• 1. Publish these conditions before the application, so that no candidate accepts a condition they could not read first.
• 2. State the assessment rules in advance — passing criterion, number of attempts and the cost of an additional attempt — and not change them for an assessment already begun.
• 3. Keep the certification decision separate from any training or preparation FVR provided to the same person.
• 4. Give a reasoned result to a candidate who does not pass, and admit an appeal against the result through FVR_QA-PR-01.
• 5. Protect the information the candidate provides, and use it only for assessment and certification purposes.
• 6. Keep the public status of a certificate current, so that a third party relying on it is not misled.
• 7. Notify a change to these conditions before it applies, and never apply a new condition retroactively to a process already under way.

• It is forbidden at FVR to:
• 1. Let whoever trained or prepared a candidate take part in the decision on that candidate's certification.
• 2. Condition the certification result on a commercial consideration — a subscription, a package, a renewal or any payment beyond the declared fees.
• 3. Impose undue restrictions on access to certification that are unrelated to the competence requirements of the scheme.
• 4. Change the passing criterion or the number of attempts of an assessment already begun.
• 5. Charge for an additional attempt more than the declared amount, or charge for an attempt the candidate did not use.
• 6. Use the information a candidate provides for anything other than assessment and certification.
• 7. State or suggest that FVR certifies organizations, products or management systems through a certification of persons.
• 8. Consider certification in the other service line as evidence or as a decision criterion. Whether the person —or the organisation they work for— holds or is applying for an FVR management system certification (ISO/IEC 17021-1) neither benefits nor improves the outcome of their assessment, and vice versa: it gives no advantage, preference or exemption, does not shorten or simplify the assessment, and is neither evidence nor a decision criterion (FVR_GD-POL-02 §5).

• Candidates commit to: providing truthful information throughout the certification process; complying with the assessment rules established by FVR; respecting integrity standards during examinations; not disclosing the content of assessments; and using the obtained certificate appropriately.

• The examination shall be considered passed only when the candidate achieves a score of at least 80% correct answers, which is the passing criterion declared in the examination design matrix of each scheme. The candidate shall be entitled to two opportunities to sit the certification examination. If the candidate does not pass within the two established opportunities, an additional attempt may be requested upon payment of the re-examination fee, equivalent to one monthly subscription payment per additional opportunity.
• The initial subscription allows continued access to the platform, the course, and supporting materials to strengthen preparation; however, any additional examination attempt carries an independent cost.

• Certified persons may declare their certification only in relation to the competency certified by FVR. The following is not permitted: using the certificate in a misleading manner; suggesting that FVR certifies organizations, products, or systems; modifying the issued certificate; displaying or reproducing it in part — cropped, split, or without its folio and QR code —, since the certificate is used only in full. Misuse may result in suspension or withdrawal, developed in FVR_GD-POL-08 §3 and in FVR_RD-PR-07-17024.

• FVR protects the confidentiality of information provided by candidates during the certification process. Information is used solely for purposes related to competency assessment and certification.

• Candidates and certified persons have the right to submit complaints or appeals related to the certification process. These are managed in accordance with the Complaints and Appeals Management Procedure, FVR_QA-PR-01.

• The conditions, grounds, and grace periods for suspension and withdrawal are governed by FVR_GD-POL-08 §3, and reinstatement after withdrawal is governed by FVR_GD-POL-08 §7. During suspension, the certified person shall cease promoting, claiming, or displaying the certification. Upon withdrawal or reduction of scope, the person shall cease the affected claims and return or destroy the certificate and any material bearing the FVR mark, in accordance with the accepted agreement in FVR_SC-PR-01 §3.

• Certification validity, its conditions, and what happens when the reference standard changes edition are governed by FVR_GD-POL-08 §3.

• Persons certified by FVR may declare their certification only in relation to the specific professional competency that has been assessed and certified by the body. Certification does not imply approval of products, organizations, management systems, or services.
• Certified persons shall not make misleading, incorrect, or unauthorized statements regarding their certification. In particular, the following is not permitted: suggesting that FVR certifies organizations or management systems; using the certificate in a manner that could mislead the public; presenting the certification beyond its defined scope.
• Misuse of certificates or certification declarations may result in the suspension or withdrawal of certification in accordance with FVR_GD-POL-08 §3. The certificate issued by FVR is the sole authorized document for demonstrating the obtained certification.

• Related registered risk in FVR_GD-MZ-04: R-12 — forgery or alteration of an FVR-issued certificate, addressed for the persons line by the restrictions on modification and misleading use in §§8 and 13.

• Before assessment, the candidate shall expressly accept this policy through the platform. The acceptance record identifies the candidate and retains the exact text and edition accepted, together with the date and supporting evidence.

Approvals / Aprobaciones